UT study: Obese girls less likely to go to college

For girls, obesity a roadblock to success

POLLY ROSS HUGHES, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, July 24, 2007

AUSTIN — Obese girls, often suffering from negative self-images as teenagers, are half as likely to attend college as girls who aren't as overweight, according to a new study at the University of Texas.

The same trend does not hold true for obese boys, likely because American mass culture holds adolescent girls to stricter weight standards, the study's author said.

"The costs of being obese are just not as great for boys," said UT sociology professor Robert Crosnoe, who is writing a book about the educational impacts of lower social status in high school.

"People care more about girls' weights and girls care more about girls' weights," he said. "Girls are more penalized for this and they care about it more."

Crosnoe, who adjusted statistically for factors such as ethnicity, race and income, said obese girls often engage in negative behavior to cope with isolation and social stigmatization.

They are more likely to skip school, drink alcohol or take drugs and consider suicide, behavioral and mental health problems that undermine their ability to compete academically.

Adults are often unsympathetic to the social plight of high schoolers who don't fit in, saying students must learn to "get over it" as they grow older, Crosnoe said.

"Even if you do get over it, the ball has been set in motion, and that has long-term consequences," he said, including lower income over a lifetime.

"One of the biggest predictors of mortality and morbidity (illness) is whether you went to college or not. If obesity has an effect on those things, and it has an effect on college enrollment, this is a double whammy," he said.

The study also found that obese girls attending high schools where obesity is not common were even less likely to attend college.

As part of his study, Crosnoe interviewed high school students in Austin. All of them assured him, he said, that obesity is a much worse problem for teen girls than it is for boys.

They suggested solutions to social isolation, which Crosnoe then tested. He found obese girls are likely to do better if they join a club, form close relationships with parents or teachers, participate in school activities or even have a single good friend they can depend upon.

The study has particular implications for how educators interact with obese girls at risk of stopping their education short, Crosnoe said.

"When they're thinking of at-risk students, they're thinking of English language learners and low-income students and students with disabilities," he said. "What I'm saying is: Let's think a little more outside the box in terms of what those at-risk populations are."